Greetings from Capt. Dave & BAYMEN!

A fun morning on the bay today with one of my regulars, Baymen Dick Bowman, USMC. Light Tackle striped bass. At first light, a touch of SE wind, calm seas, dropping tide, overcast skies and water temps 62 degrees.

With the tide dropping and no birds, bait or topwater to speak of, we began to search out all the tiny rips around the bay in hopes that they would hold some fish. First stop – nobody home. Second stop – WHAM! Keeper on! First fish of the morning and nice slot for fillets. A few minutes later – WHAM! Second keeper on. Another fine fish that was released. After workin this piece of water we moved on to spot number three: Nobody home. On to spot number four…

Upon arrival, a deer was up ahead of us on the flats, It decided to swim the channel so we hung way back so as not to alarm or pressure it. At the exact same time, a seal popped up in front of the deer. The deer swam across the channel and then walked right up on a shell fisherman that was salting for razors. I am guessing it was attracted to the salt. After a few minutes, the deer turned and swam back across the channel to the flat it had originally come from. Then it hightailed it across the flats and last we saw of it was just about out of sight heading for Bay Farm…

We worked spot number four of the morning and had several nice blow-ups on topwater and several hook-ups and thrown hooks. No success landing any fish here but the deer and seal were more than enough. On our way out of this area, we passed a dozen Great Blue Herons catching small baits along the low tide flats. Further down the bay, a mute swan flew over the boat. They are massive birds!

We worked several more rips and channel drop-offs as the tide began to turn. At one point, I ran over a submerged lobster buoy and cut the line with the prop. With some quick maneuvering, I was about to grab the line, back up and catch the buoy, and tie it back onto the pot warp. If you are yellow and white, that’s the story with that buoy.

A few more fish and we called it a slow but lovely morning on the bay with two keepers on light tackle, five seals, a deer, a swan, and a dozen great blue herons seen. And we got to watch salting for razors. A good morning on the bay. Total catch and release 6 fish, 2 keepers, 1 slot went home with the client.

FINAL WORD

June has been a very slow month for the Spring Blitz. If you have been following my reports over the years, you know we are in the middle of the Spring Blitz from May 15 to June 20 give or take a few days. May was good with a couple great days. June started OK and then things really slowed down. No birds, no topwater action for the most part, and only a fraction of the number of fish we typically have this time of year inside our bay. But the slot size fish has been consistent and our biggest fish this season was 19 pounds on light tackle. We have also landed a bunch of slot keepers on the fly. But again, fish numbers are way down compared to past years at this time.

That’s the word for today. Back At It – Stay Posted.

Capt. David Bitters, BAYMEN, baymenlife.com 31 years Guiding The Bay. Still In Love.

Soli Deo Gloria!

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